HALF
by EyexLinerxWhore
Summary: The sad truth about love is that it doesn't have to be reciprocated. (Baron Corbin x OC x Aleister Black)
1. Tell Me How

_Hello again. I'm back on the same things as usual. I'm loyal to the Wolf... And I'm fading to Black. Leave me reviews please._

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 **Chapter 1** : Tell Me How

She thought he was beautiful. Not so much in the traditional sense considering his tattoos and affinity for motorcycles and cars, but beautiful in his warm brown eyes, dark hair, 6'8" frame and giant dork personality.

He was her everything. And she was just something to him. A great friend or something. She loved him and she knew it was inevitable.

Tom could definitely be a grouch like his character on TV, but most of the time he was cracking jokes and getting into shit like a little punk ass kid. Those times were some of her favorite times. He'd taken her to her get her first tattoo. They'd spent countless hours fighting over music while road tripping; and quiet hours sharing parts of themselves to the walls in the darkness of their often shared hotel rooms.

They were surprisingly close. Close enough they were often mistaken as a couple. Close enough that after a while, they'd both stopped denying they were just friends. Her heart soared at the possibilities, but she never spoke anything of it.

And then they kissed. The affection ratcheted up. There was no need to speak on their situation. It just was.

They were content in each other. She wanted more. He wanted someone else. And in the blink of an eye, everything changed. There was avoidance. There was distance. There was silence. There was an unexplained gaping hole. There was a Wrestlemania moment. There was call up. There was an engagement. There was a wedding.

There was love there, but not for her.

She tried to be happy for him; for them. She tried being cordial, but he kept his distance as if he'd fall back in.

There always seemed to be some kind of gathering at a bar and grill of some sort when a ton of WWE employees got together. Since she had accepted her job there, it was a regular occurrence. Usually it was just some of the NXT roster, but with a joint pay per view and a NXT Takeover event, almost the entire gang was there.

She noticed Baron's big body almost immediately. She'd spent plenty of nights wrapped in him and him in her. Seeing him stirred emotions in her, leaving her feeling raw and exposed. As she walked in further she noticed he wasn't alone.

Alcohol, she needed alcohol.

After two drinks to calm herself and some appetizers, she had the courage to approach the couple and ask Tom if she could talk to him outside.

"I miss you." She whispered, keeping her eyes downcast.

He ran his hand over his mouth and chin sighing, "I miss you too."

He turned to her lifting her face. She stared at him; through him. He pulled her in, hugging her to his larger body.

"Are you happy?" She spoke holding him around the waist resting her head on his collarbone.

"Yeah."

She pulled away, breaking the embrace she'd been longing for. She loved him... Still. She shook her head, laughing shakily. She focused on her feet.

"What's wrong?" He reached out towards her before dropping his hand back at his side.

"Nothing," She shook her head again looking straight ahead, "A lot of things have changed. I don't wanna overstep any boundaries." She stepped back further leaning against a wall.

He moved to stand next to her. Close enough to touch but far enough apart that they looked like old friends.

They were quiet for a long time.

"I'm happy for you, ya know?"

"Yeah? You'd be the worst kind of friend if you weren't." He lightly teased.

She rolled her eyes, "I mean, we spent nights talking about you being a champion. About that call up. About all of that."

He ran his hand down his face again. They'd talked about way more than that. His heart pulled at the nostalgic tone of her voice. He glanced at her. Missing all of what she had said except, "I'm so proud of you."

He smirked as she turned slightly to look at him.

Fuck, she had missed that. She faced straight ahead again.

"It's been a hell of a ride," He reflected, "Weird without you."

"You're in the big leagues now."

"That's true, but that's not all that I meant."

She stiffened before turning to stare at him.

"I didn't expect you to show, but that stung a bit when I realized you hadn't."

She chuckled mirthlessly, feeling tears sting her eyes, "I couldn't." Her voice broke as she looked away. She wouldn't do this. Not in front of him.

He moved closer to her. His arm brushing hers.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." He spoke quietly.

She smiled sadly, "I didn't mean to fall in love with you either." She sniffled, quickly swiping at her eyes moving away from him.

He frowned at her admission. He had always known, but hearing it come from her made him anxious. And now having it sound like it was a mistake stung him. She was holding on to the possibility of him while he was holding on to the possibility of someone better.

"I'm sorry. I don't really know what else I can say."

She shrugged, facing him. "But you're happy?"

"Yeah."

She wasn't convinced, "That's all that matters then."

"What about you? Are you happy?"

Her feet were interesting again.

"You know you can be honest with me. You don't have to smile in my face and pretend everything is alright. You don't have to fake it with me."

"I'm fine."

"That's not what I asked you."

She shrugged, "I'm fine." She crossed her arms, resting them on her stomach, avoiding eye contact.

He finally pushed off the wall to stand in front of her. He cupped her face in his large hands like he had so many times in the past. She dropped her arms staring up at him. He pressed his forehead to hers.

"You're stubborn as hell. Anyone ever tell you that?"

"Only you."

"It's still true."

"Yeah, well..." She trailed off.

"You used to say I loved it."

"Did you?"

He pulled back slightly, searching her face. Her question hung in the air between them.

"You can say no. It wouldn't surprise me." She gently tugged at his wrists, holding his hands briefly before letting them go.

He was quiet. He stared at her for a long time.

"It wasn't the same kind of love." He blurted finally after the extended silence.

That same humorless laugh escaped her as she nodded, "It never is. And every time it isn't, I wonder what it feels like to be in love with someone who is in love with me too." She stood blinking back tears.

"Fuck, I-"

"No, don't. It's fine. I'm fine. I'm gonna head back inside." She roughly wiped at her face leaving him outside.

"Did you have a good talk? I know you guys were close." His wife asked as he rejoined her.

He shrugged his broad shoulders.

"It'll get back to normal between you guys, babe."

He gave his wife a brief peck. He looked around catching his old friend's eyes. She lifted her drink towards him slightly before downing the liquid.

He returned the gesture as his wife crashed into his larger body kissing him, making him smile.

She saw the interaction between them, but had to look away for her own sake.

Fuck, she had missed feeling that.

She loved him, still.

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 _Over and out... Kind of._


	2. For You

_Had to repost this chapter... Some of the wording and what not was off and it was bothering me. I actually proofread. I know. What the actual F? Anyway... Aleister... All the heart eyes okay. Tell me how to get a tag for him added here. ANYWAY, onward._

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Chapter 2: For You

She was fucked. He had joined the company a little over a year ago from the independent circuit. She thought he was beautiful in the most unorthodox way. His brown hair cut into a mohawk, the small lip ring and his abundance of tattoos. He was shrouded in mystery and darkness with an air of absolute bad ass. Damn. if she didn't have a type. She knew better though.

He was intelligent, insightful, intense, but also a very passionate, caring, methodical gentle man. His affinity for small cute fluffy animals was a dichotomy to the violence he was capable of.

She watched him for weeks. She wasn't entirely sure what was drawing her to him and then she heard Ohno call him Tommy. She nearly put her head through the table she was sitting at.

Their first interaction came when his lightly accented voice asked her if she had time to trim his hair and beard. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head, but she sat him down and trimmed him up.

From there, they had other small interactions until they hung out with more of his friends from the indies. Initially she stayed pretty close to Ruby and Ember, but as the night continued she had gotten cozy with a lot of the European boys that came along. Her world tilted on its axis the first time she saw him smile. She wanted to see that more often.

Her heart did the soaring thing again when she noticed he started spending more time around her. She noticed he'd started using Dutch phrases around her and coupled them with light touches. His actions gave her the courage to ask him out to Disney World. He accepted with a smirk and a gentle kiss to her forehead.

That night they ate and goofed off like children. They got a few odd looks considering their appearances. Neither of them could stop smiling.

"I'm going to do something really cheesy." He spoke as they were standing together holding hands.

"Yeah? Like what? Finally kiss me under me the fireworks?"

"Damn, am I that predictable?" He chuckled, leaning down slightly.

"Maybe just a little bit." She smiled as he pressed a sweet kiss to her lips.

They both melted into each other a little bit.

The Disney World date led to several more. They slowly learned about each other. Which lead to them slowly falling into bed with each other.

They were solid. Their chemistry was palpable. Their connection undeniable.

* * *

"What are you doing tonight?"

"I was hoping to steal you away for the evening instead of going out with everyone." She spoke turning to face him.

"You can have me all to yourself afterwards, belofte."

"I'll hold you to that."

"I'll pick you up around 8?"

"Sounds good." She pecked him on the cheek as they went about their days.

When 8 rolled around they had both showered and changed and were headed to a place that filled her with deja vu. Tommy noticed her hesitation.

"You alright, liefje?" He placed his hand on her knee.

"Yeah, it's just weird being here again."

"Again? Is this the place?"

She nodded slightly, "Wasn't too great of an experience last time I was here."

"Show me where."

"Where what?"

"Where you had that talk with him."

She had told him about her last half-failed attempt at a relationship. She explained why she was weary and much to her surprise, Tommy was understanding and patient with her. He knew about the other Tom and found immense amusement in her frustration at them sharing the same first name.

She stared at him.

"Come on, love. It'll be worth it."

She sighed waiting for him to open her door. She took him to the spot where she had last spoken to Baron.

"Right here." She spoke, standing away from the wall she had started her last conversation with Baron over a year ago.

He nodded, staring at her intently, "You know he's in there, right?"

"I figured as much."

He smirked at her, "I want you to let him know something."

"What's that?"

"That you're loved."

"I am?"

He chuckled, "You are. I'm in love with you. Happily."

"You are?"

He laughed then grabbing her hands, "I am."

"Holy shit," She breathed causing him to laugh again, "Holy shit."

He leaned in and kissed her. She reached up placing one hand on his cheek as her heart did the soaring thing.

"I'm in love with you too."

"I know."

She playfully swatted him in the arm, "Damn, am I that predictable?"

He smiled kissing her again before heading inside.

* * *

"I was wondering when I'd catch you."

"You caught me. How have you been?"

"Pretty good."

"How's the married life?"

"Better than I expected it to be, actually."

She smiled then, a genuine smile, "Good. That's really good."

"How about you? How are things with Tommy? Are you happy?"

"If I say no are you going to beat him up?"

"No. I might have a talk with him about treating you right. Or at least better than I did."

"He treats me like a queen. You've got nothing to worry about Wolfie."

"And you're happy?"

"I'm in love with him." She spoke looking into those brown eyes that she loved so much at one point.

He pulled her into a hug and kissed her gently on the temple, "You deserve that, I'm happy for you."

"And what is going on over here?" His wife spoke bumping his side.

"They ditched us to hang out with each other." Tommy spoke teasingly.

"We were just catching up, it's been awhile. Next round is on me."

They shared food drinks and each other's company until Tommy called it a night so he could hang with his woman.

"Look at you, you made it out alive." He teased, intertwining his tattooed fingers with hers.

"Ha ha, you're such a shit." She bumped him with her hip.

He chuckled, "I am, but I'm yours."

"I really can't put that into words."

"You don't have to, liefje. I just wanted you to know where my mind was in our relationship. I felt it was time you knew."

"I was never worried."

"Cockiness isn't attractive."

"Oh shush, I'm not being cocky. I just meant nothing between us has ever felt one sided."

"Not since going to Disney World. It was all or nothing for me then."

"I was terrified of asking you out. Then I thought to hell with it. Turns out it was one of the best decision I've ever made." She gently squeezed his hand.

He smiled, pulling her into him placing gentle kisses on her lips, "That's why you don't need to put things into words. I can tell, liefje."

They shared a deep more intense kiss full of emotion.

Fuck, she loved feeling that.  
She loved him, now.

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 _This is where I leave you. Let me know what you thought!_

 **Google Translations** : _**liefje**_ = sweetheart _**belofte**_ = promise


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